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The 

BLUE- 
DRAGON 

Ballads 



By 
Alfred James Fritchey 




THE BLUE-DRAGON 
BALLADS 

By 

ALFRED JAMES FRITCHEY 



Published by 

A. J. FRITCHEY 

523 San Julian Street 

Los Angeles 






Copyright 1922 
by the 
Author 



S)CI.A6o4856 



FEB -8 1922 



AV* 



THEIR NAMES 

The Girdle of Pearls 7 

The White Hart and the Morning Glory.... 9 

The Blue Bracelet 11 

Youth and the Coral Land. 14 

The Yellow Sash 19 

Theseus and Peregune ...22 

The Bride of the Red Fish .....24 

The Magenta Earring 28 

The Moon-Fish and the Cat .31 

Maid o' the Silken Veils 35 

The Green Comb...... 39 

Tale of the Great Hornbill.... 41 

The Orange Goblet 44 

The Lady of the Humming Birds 47 

The Tourmaline Vase 49 

The Jaguarine 52 

The Golden Purse 53 

The Dwarf and the Canary 59 

The Red Opal 62 

The Goose and the Water Snake..... ,.66 

The Gold Bell 67 



Just before the snow, dearie, 

Just before the snow. 
When the skies are heavy laden, 

And the birds fly low, 
What is like to take the window 

Arm around you so — 
Watching for the first flake, dearie, 

Just before the snow? 

Watching for the first of winter 

By a single flake, 
Watching for the scudding lightness 

Over field and lake; 
I, Wiho love you how much, dearie, 

Would that I could so 
Ever keep you as you now are, 

Just before the snow! 

There, I saw the first one, dearie. 

No, my precious, no. 
Mine was but a feather, yours was 

Surely the first snow; 
As we sit and watch the fine flakes 

Like life's minutes blow. 
Let me kiss your sweet lips, dearest, 

Just before the snow. 



WHENCE THEY ARE NAMED 



While falleth the snow, 

And darkens the night, 
While fences white glow 

As the crisp flakes alight. 
By the Blue Dragon Lamp 

Let us sit us and read; 
Heedless of the damp 

And the winter's shai^p meed. 
Let us read of a time 

When the earth was aglow 
With the fine golden clime 

Of the great long ago. 



The Girdle of Pearls 



THE GIRDLE OF PEARLS 

Nydalia, flower of maids 

In Persia of famed report, 
Was the daughter to one skilled in gold 

And silver, gold-beater at court; 
Nydalia, flower of maids 

Would take in the even a gTOom, 
And so in the whitest of tubs 

She was having her bath of perfume. 

She thought on the girdle of pearls 

That her father would make for the 
queen ; — 
On the exquisite girdle of pearls 

That he barely had finished that e'en; 
And she said : "I am wedded but once, 

The queen she will have long delight. 
And for it I die, still that girdle of pearls 

Must shine on the bride of to-night." 

So when she had drest, she stole forth 

Where she knew that the girdle must be, 
And took from the girdle its case, 

And danced as she saw it, in glee; 
Then over her white virgin zone. 

Which chastely her silk gown displays- 
She strung out the beautiful girdle of pearls 

And lo! she was queen of the fays. 



The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 



Nydalia, sweetest of maids, 

Why longest thou fairer to be? 
For never yet girdle of pearls 

Encircled an one such as she! 
Nydalia, rarest of maids, 

What wouldst thou, thou hadst not to- 
night ? 
For never in regions that cover the earth 

Was seen such a form of delight! 

The bride-maids in wonder stood still, — 

Astonishment told on them all; 
Then forth to the wedding they went, 

And shone in her father's gTeat hall. 
Her father amazed doth stand: 

Too late to uncircle that ring; 
And long did he ponder the whole wedding 
night 

To think what the morrow might bring. 

So in the hall, smiling was wed 

Nydalia, fairest of brides; 
Then forth to the rich garden, but 

Who knows what a garden oft hides? 
For out of the darkness, two arms 

Encircled and bore her away; 
And Nydalia, fairest of brides 

Is gone for a life and a day. 



The White Hart and the Mo^-ning Glory 9 

Some said that it was the queen's spies; 

Some said 'twas the Forty Thieves surely ; 
And some, of incredulous knd, 

Said the tale was imagined all purely; 
But there was the father to grieve; 

And there was the queen left to fret; 
For never such pearls have been seen 

In Persia or anywhere yet. 

Ah, where is the girdle of pearls, 

With pendants so daintily white, 
That girded the zone of a maid 

With lustre so peerless and bright? 
Ah, where is the girdle of pearls? 

But where is Nydalia, pray? 
Ah' no one could answer in Persia's court 
then, 

And who now can answer today? 



The White Hart and the Morning Glory 

Leaping up a mountain side 

Went a Hai"t — a snow-white Hart, too, 
From the hounds and Master Hound, 

To escape the chase's smart, too. 
Then a Morning Glory fair 

With a maiden's art not new t' her. 



10 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

Twined around him panting found, 
And safe bound this noble suitor. 

But the Hunter who was rich 

When he saw the Morning Glory 
Twined like a noble Hart, 

For his palace wanted sore he; 
And when he had homeward gone, 

Told his Gardener the story, 
Whom he hither sent to bring 

Home the harted Morning Glory. 

But the Hart — this snow-white Hart, too — 
From his silken, clinging tether, 

When had gone the hounds and master. 
Broke, and sought his mountain heather. 

And when came the Gardener 

Where these two had been together, 

Broken was the Morning Glory, 

Torn and twisted was Love's tether. 

When the Gardener saw whom 

The Morning Glory lost her heart to, 
Home he bore her, root and bloom, 

And he played a gardener's part, too: 
For within a form he chose 

Like a hart as e'er could Art do, 
Still the Morning Glory shows 

Every night where goes her heart to. 



The Blue Bracelet 11 

THE BLUE BRACELET 

There dwelt upon the Libyan shore 

A maiden of Arabian birth; 
A water-maid she was, no more, 

And yet such beauty as the Earth 
Has seldom seen to wonder o'er. 

And on her arms full bare and white, 
More lovely by a plain robe, too, 

Two arm-bands claspt her pink flesh tight; 
Two bracelets of enameled blue, — 

Did make a figure of delight. 

Tho' she had suitors high and rich 

And damask bowers beckt this maid, 

Was offered courtly jewels, which 

Had turned a Queen if Flattery paid. 

She loved a Youth that filled the niche 
Of Brasier, one divinely made. 

And they had planned to Babylon 
Would hither go, this very night; 

Where he the King's forge-gear would don, 
And weld his spears and armour bright: 

Of course 'twas Fancy worked upon. 

But who could say what happen might? 



12 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

Then as she came to meet, forsooth, 
This night beside the water-well, 

Her future lord — that charming youth — 
Why who break forth and on her fell, 

But pirates who bound her, in truth. 

And bore her to their light trireme; 

For by that shore they lingered bold, 
To seize the maidens they would deem 

The richest prize when Grecian sold: 
Ah, cruel, cruel was her dream! 

But, as she struggled on the sand, 
A bracelet left her rounded arai. 

And when the maid was far from land 

And came that Youth, who thought that 
harm 

Befel, he found that shining band. 

Then when he learned what was her fate, 
He did not rage, nor tear, nor cry; 

His was a mind that men call great. 

He went and gathered clansmen nigh. 

And started for Bosphorus' gate. 

And in the Grecian mountains, he 

And all his band robbed far and near; 



The Blue Bracelet 13 

Till he was known full famously, 

And his became a name to fear, — 
Such booty and such maids seized he. 

But one day when his band returned. 

They brought a maid whose loosened hair 

In lovely rings their ardours spurned; 
For in her eyes shone such despair 

As if a sorrow soul-deep burned. 

Then when they brought her to their Chief, 
He asked her sorrow, naught she spoke: 

"Ho! we shall fathom out your grief, 

Tear from her waist, her plum-fringed 
cloak." 

How robbers wound beyond belief! 

They tore, and lo ! a bracelet blue 
Was shining on her lovely arm; 

It was that water-maiden, too. 

And he would do his own love harm : 

Who wrong shall Heaven the same wrong do. 

And then he wept hot burning tears — 
His first — and kist that shining band: 

And so, he, after many years. 

Led her back to his native land ; 

And made Love sweet arrears. 



14 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

YOUTH AND THE CORAL LAND 

Whence come the Coral children nigh, 
Bearing that laughing boy along, 

Swimming the scudding drifts that fly 
Foamy as wine of Bacchus' song? 

Whither the breast that nursed that lad? 

'Twas of the Earth, not of the Sea. 
Whither the heart that now is sad 

'Cause of the Coral sprites that flee? 

Dark are his locks and beaded black 
His eyes, that laugh in childish glee; 

But those eyes so bright shall bring delight 
No more to the shores of Sicily. 

Stolen away by the Coral maids 

That live beneath the purple foam: 

Long days that shore, they waited for 

The sunburat lad for their Coral home. 

Ah, lucky lad, they'll love you well 

With warm embrace and kisses prest! 

But your sparkling eye in vain shall sigh 
For your mother's dear Sicilian breast. 



Youth and the Coral Land 15 

Downward they dove thro' the crystal wave, 
Downward, a hundred fathoms deep; 

And the dark lad's head seemed like one dead 
Ere the rosy Coral mansions peep. 

Then herbs of mystic perfume, brewed 

In goblets of pale emerald, 
The lad they gave, and soon a wave 

Of vermeil hue, his visage held. 

Behold the Queen of the Coral land 

On crocodile encased throne! 
And on her hair, a bright tiar' 

Of rosy tourmalines there shone. 

And a radiance of pearly hue. 
Ethereal as a bride might be, 

Came from the queen when she had seen 
The lad from the shores of Sicily. 

Then they banqueted from viands rich; 

From paly gems sipped liquid dew. 
And strange fruits red, the lad they fed 

That he might be a sea-ling, too. 

Oh! violet tinted the days spent there 

With the rosy Coral maids! 
For nuts and flowers pleasured long hours 

In the depths of the ocean glades. 



16 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

Or sometimes they took a trip upon 

A dolphin redly finned, 
And gamboled acrost great treasures lost 

From Carthage, Tyre and Ind. 

Of gold encrusted pyramids 

And jewels that muffled shine — 

Pining away for the light of day 

And the glare of the Orient's wine. 

Now the nut-brown lad became a youth: 
Ah, the Coral Queen did sigh! 

And blushes red hid her lovely head 
When the Youth of Earth was nigh. 

And if thro' a gi'ove of ocean firs 

With carmine pointed sheen. 
Was the Youth alone, there always shone 

The glow of the Coral Queen. 

But the lone lad pined for his earthly kind, 
With red love passioned deep; 

Not ethereally like the crested sea. 
That the Coral maidens keep. 

So he stole away at the peep of a day. 
And mounted the purple foam; 

And glad was the sight in the amber light 
Of his dear Sicilian home. 



Youth and the Coral Land 17 

Then kisses hot they gave so dear 

To the lad who slept in a Coral iim, 

And all his kith seemed pleasured with 
The dark Sicilian's youth's return. 

Who is the lass with lips apout, 

And eyes like Caverns of the Night, 

Whose cheek doth blush with a rosy flush 
As the Coral lad bursts on her sight? 

That is the maid from yon star's soft burn 
Whence essence sthat conquer death 

Come: and from the same Amethyst urn 
That lad and lassie each drew breath. 

Out where the Stars' pavilion gleamed 
A million studded o'er and o'er, 

Out where the spicy zephyrs dreamed, 
They walked on the Sicilian shore. 

But the Coral Queen 'neath the purple foam, 
No more love's blushes make her glad ; 

With all her band she left her land 
To search for the dark Sicilian lad. 

Yonder they walk by the gurgling shore. 

O lad and lassie, hold each tight! 
Else your love-mixt hearts shall taste no 
more 

Of joy for the Coral Sovran's spite. 



18 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

For the love of the maid hath killed the spell 
Of dwelling 'neath the purple foam; 

And the iris spray might chase away 

The bloom you had in your Coral home. 

Oh! a tidal wave swept o'er the two, 
Still clinging- to each other's breast, 

And there they lay all cold and gray 

Where the gulls went circling in the west. 

And oft when the evening stars are lit, 

And lovers wander off alone, 
A moaning fades from the Coral maids, 

And a sad song comes from the Coral 
Throne. 



The Yellow Sash 19 

THE YELLOW SASH 

When Rome sat on her seven hills, 

And ruled thei world, did wander where 

Iberia sends her mountain rills, 
A goat-herd lad and sister there; 
Both dark-eyed and most fair. 

And on their birthday once the maid 
A silken sash did give the lad, 

Of yellow, red and blue displayed. 
So beautiful it seemed it had 
Been made some Shah to clad. 

Then came the Romans, and these two 
Were torn apart; the lad became 

A gladiator that doth do 

With sword or spear the deeds of fame 
Which Romans hailed in Honor's name. 

The sister went by right of sword 

Unto a noble lady, near 
To courtly favor; for her lord, 

To tell the truth, he doth appear 

The Emperor's right-ear. 

And so five years were parted two, — 
Twin-brother and twin-sister, — when 

One day he caught in passing view 
That gentle maid of mountain glen, 
And much he grieved then. 



20 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

So would he wear his sister's gift, 
That sash of yellow, red and blue. 

When next the myriads thither drift 
To hiss or hail a hero new; — 
For many died to make a few. 

And when the thousand faces swim 
And he doth parry the foe's dart. 

Perhaps the maid might gaze on him 
And breathe a pray'r into his heart; 
And find her by such art. 

The next day was the fatal game 
When in the wide arena all. 

The Romans, flocking, hither came, 
To see a champion rise or fall: — 
"The Sports" they this did call. 

And now the amphitheatre 

Is crowded, and Imperial 
The last arrivals cause a stir. 

The heralds for the first lists call. 

A hush is over all. 

When came a Youth, round whom was wound 
A sash whose varied colors fly; 

And merriment went round and round: 
That one who soon might bleeding lie 
Such holiday should tie. 



The Yellow Sash 21 

Then came the combat, fierce and long; 

And lo ! The Youth did fight full well ; 
But Rome's fierce champion was too strong, 

And the young stalwart bleeding fell: — 

'Twas as all did fortell. 

When as they clamored for that Youth 
To death, that made such holiday, 

A maiden in the royal booth 

Did weep and fall in such dismay, 
The Emperor would stay. 

Then when he sought the reason why. 
She told the story of the sash ; 

It was her brother she did cry; 

And how she wept that he should dash 
Into such combat rash. 

Thus was her own twin-brother spared, 

And given to a sister's care; 
And after many days they shared 

Again the sweet Iberian air, 
Far from the Roman glare. 

How after many days, the charm 

That tells of a loved one, will bring 

The flowing tears so fresh and warm. 
That all our happiness will wing; 
So doth Love cling! 



22 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

THESEUS AND PEREGUNE 

Young Theseus the valiant to Athens is sped, 

And out from yon wood where the phlox 

rears a hurdle, 

He spies robber Sinnis a-awaiting his head. 

The masks of his victims a-strung to his 

girdle. 

Be careful young Theseus, or you will be 

A food for the ravens on yon sapling tree; 

For the pleasure of Sinnis has ever been 
found 

Dismembering men by a young tree's re- 
bound. 

But Theseus is agile and Theseus is strong. 
And alas, for the fate Sinnis could not 
see grappling. 
The combat was hardly a few minutes long 
Ere Sinnis was bound to his favorite sap- 
ling. 

Now Peregune, daughter of Sinnis, away! — 
To the slender asparagus reedlings that 
sway; 



TheseiLS and Peregune 23 



fairer and frailer and sweeter art thou 
Than the wildest, wild bloosom that hideth 
thy brow! 



Then Peregune prayed to the reedlings to 
hide her, 
And promised if no haiTn from Theseus 
came, 
Wherever she roamed, all her kinship beside 
her 
Should honor asparagus for her good 
name. 

While Theseus calling to Peregune, said: 
"Come hither, Peregune! hither to wed." 
But Peregune's heart went a-bursting in 

pain. 
And a glorious red poppy sprang up on 

the plain. 

And Theseus went to i$^geus' halls fair, 
Where lazuli-latticed lamps made the 
night, noon; 
And tho' he was welcomed as son and as heir. 
Ah ! often he mourns still for sweet Pere- 
gune. 



24 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

THE BRIDE OF THE RED FISH 

I am a Diver 'neath the sea 

And I search for treasure lost; 

In nook and cave of the pui*ple wave 
I scour each ahen coast. 

One summer e'en in the blue ^gean, 
Down where marine pits yawn, 

Two fishes red swam near my head 
Just as my breath was gone. 

Just as the Sea went swooning in 

A rain of mossy hail, — 
And one of the Fish said : " 'Tis my wish 

That man may hear our tale." 

Then in the green of the dark marine 

Was I in a pearl white net; 
And thus he told — the red Fish old — 

His tale in that swooning wet: 

"Lo! Tyre rears her jeweled head 

Where Beauty sees her robes soft spun; 

An opal set in the silvered fret 

Of froth that greets the Orient sun. 



The Bride of the Red Fish 25 

"There a gallant galley, snowy plumed, 

Lay on the coral strand, 
With silk tents nigh her, for the Princess of 
Tyre 

Was bride to a foreign land. 

"As the galley's master, young and strong, — 
Came I from the Grecian foam; 

For a Greek Prince fair had sent me there 
To carry his Princess home. 

"O'er the agate stones came joyous tones 

Of hail) and flute so sweet, 
And maids a-glow, pink petals strow, 

To caipet the Princess' feet. 

"A dozen virgins in a row 

With fragile jars of rare perfumes. 
In silken showers of different flowers 

And faint with Araby's rich blooms, 

"Precede the Princess faery form 

In white where linger blue-bells, fair. 

While a lone sapphire made the Heiress of 
Tyre 
The loveliest of the virgins there. 



26 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 



"When hither she drew, full well I knew 
That she was my Princess, all; 

Tho' I sought her hand for the Prince of our 
land, 
My heart found a silken thrall. 

"Oh, was there ever such a sail 
O'er a wave that gentler rolled? 

For Astarte's horn rose silver-born 
As my Grecian tales I told: 

"All of the lovely tales I knew. 
Of Dian', Helen, Psyche's grove, 

And he that was wont o'er the Hellespont 
To swim for Hero's love. 

"Ah! sometimes I thought there came a 
blush. 

Of pink when I drew nigh, 
And once I saw a Cupid rush 

Away from her maiden sigh. 

"But a storm came up — a raging storm — 
As we thought our journey o'er. 

And there was the onyx silvered form 
Of the mount of my native shore. 



The Bride of the Red Fish 27 

"Splintered apart the timbers crack; 

I caught the Princess' hand; 
And tho' the billows buffet back, 

At last we reach the land. 

"Clinging unto each others arms, 
That night she was mine, I ween; 

But the Prince came down with the morn- 
ing's frown, 
And I had his Tyrean queen. 

"They brought a scarf of silken strand. 
And bound us breast to breast, 

And threw us from yon jagged land 
Out on the purple crest. 

"And now we are fishes red, and swim 
In the Emerald realm so bright," 

But I hear a voice, — and a shadow dim; 
And I'm back in the clear day light. 



28 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

THE MAGENTA EARRING 

In rough uncultured Sparta, when 

Lycurgus ruled, as all aver, 
Where at the banquet-board the men. 

And at another wOmen were, 
And all were equal then, 

There was a youth Stenopodas, 
That loved a maiden, who alone 

Had eyes for him: he saw her pass 
When in the sacred dance she was; 

Ah! perfect virgin zone! 

This youth had brought from some far war, 

A fine magneta earring pair, 
To give when unobserved; for 

Love was not practised open there, 
But was of stealth, they bore. 

Now had he pierced, when in a wood, 
Her ears, while with a Spartan heart 

She saw the drops of blood that should 
Down trickle. Then when healed the 

smart, 
They oft came here, — to part. 



The Magenta Earring 29 

Now one day in a combat, he 

Did mortal wound a fellow Greek; 

And from his country did he flee, 

Because of veng-eance they might wreak; 
The Persian court to seek. 

So by his prowess and brave deed. 

He rose until a satrapy 
Was his ; and on a fiery steed 

He rode in state, and ever he 

Did have rich company. 

There in that Eastern pomp, that maid 
He did forget: for orient eyes 

That sparkle down a Cashmere glade. 
Can ween the fiercest hearts that rise 
Away from Grecian prize. 

But on her Spartan hills did she 
Oft mourn that false Stenopodas; 

And pondered how, that secretly 

She might remind him of what was, 

And what should be, alas! 

So took she there some cherries red. 
That she had cooked ; and in the glass, 

Which a magenta lustre shed, 

She put an earring, which like was 

Unto those cherries red, 



30 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

And sent unto that satrap; who 

When he beheld that peerless fruit 

Fresh from his native country, too, — 

And signed "A Lover's Gift," to boot, — 

He called a page he knew. 

Who poured it in a golden plate; 

And when the fruit had tasted been, 
To see if fit for meal of state, 

And when the fruit was fitted seen. 
He g-ave a banquet great. 

Then one of them the earring found. 
And showed unto that satrap, who 

Was home again on Grecian ground. 
Beside that Spartan maiden, too: 

How Love his heart did wound! 

So sent he messengers to find 

If there was vengeance 'gainst him still; 
And when they brought him tidings kind, 

That no one bore him any ill, 

To Sparta doth he will. 

But when the maiden saw his dress. 
And all his rich and costly suite, 

She did lament in sharp distress 

Her lover's death, in anguish meet; 

Such pretense did she press. 



The Moon-Fish and the Cat 31 

Till when he saw he could not win 

Her with his Oriental show, 
He put on Spartan g-own, and in 

That simple robe did end her woe, 

Her lover she did know. 

So that magenta earring came 

Unto a lover tho' untrue. 
And wrought in him a sense of shame, 

That he a wrong- would fain undo: 

So endeth this tale true. 



THE MOON-FISH AND THE CAT 

When the Calif Hab Al Rah-zur 

Ruled in every wish 
Bagdad, came one day a Fisher 

With a wondrous fish. 

Like unto a silver sliver , 

Never was there known 
In the realm of Hab Al Rah-zur 

Such rare beauty shown. 



32 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

So the Calif gave the Fisher 

Pieces ten of gold, 
For the fragile fish of silver, — 

Twas a Moon-fish told. 

Then he placed it in a basin 

Carven from a gem; 
Where the fountains spray their perfume 

Over veil and hem, 

Of the harem's choicest beauties, — 

Hab Al Rah-zur's all: — 
But there was not gem upon them 

Like that silver ball. 

And they all came to admire 

Hab Al Rah-zur's wonder; 
Which must surely from the Moon 

Have come to Earth under. 

Moon-fish swimming in such crystal, 

How they crowded there! 
How the perfumed waters trembled 

At a form so fair! 

But when night came down and slumber 

Kist with sweetest dreams, 
Lo ! the fragile Moon-fish vanisht 

With its silver beams. 



The Moon-Fish and the Cat 33 

And the Calif's heart was heavy, 

Grief the Calif had; 
Franticly they searched the palace, 

Franticly Bagdad. 

Then within the Vizier's mansion, 

In an agate bowl. 
There they found the Moon-fish swimming: 

Evidence, he stole. 

So they chained him in a prison. 

And returned the fish 
To the Calif's splendid garden, 

By the Calif's wish. 

But when night came, and the Moon-fish 

Like the night before, 
Vanisht, and was found a-swimming 

In the Vizier's door. 

When that worthy lay in prison, 

"Lo!" the Calif said: 
"I will find who does this thieving. 

And will have his head." 

So he placed a sabered eunuch 

Every entrance facin'; 
Turbaned sentry paced each hour 

Round the fish's basin. 



34 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

But the Moon-fish still as quickly 

Vanisht when night came; 
And within the Vizier's mansion 

Was again the same. 

So the Calif watcht and found out 

That a wondrous cat, 
Oh, a Persian, tortoise-colored, 

And long haired at that, 

Came, and in his mouth the Moon-fish 

Bore with wagging tail, 
To his master's house, — the Vizier's, — 

Whom they freed from jail. 

That he might narrate the story 

By Mahomet's hilt; 
And retrace how evidence 

Is not a proof of guilt. 

"Know, O Calif," said the Vizier, 

"Tho' 'tis strange to tell, 
That a Fisher past my mansion 

With a cat to sell. 

"Told me that he had a Moon-fish 

And this cat for pets: 
Such a friendship for each other 

Had they, that one frets 



Maid o' the Silken Veils 35 

"When the other is a-distant; 

Till the Fisher's heart 
Would have rent, since went the Moon-fish, 

If the cat not part. 

"So I bought him, all unknowing 

That yourself had bought 
This fair Moon-fish from the Fisher 

Who such end had thought? 

"Then accept my cat, Calif!" 

Such is friendship, that 
In the Faithful's garden Moon-fish 

Kisses nose with cat. 



MAID O' THE SILKEN VEILS 

Rootlets I dig, of the twisted twig, 
A charmed drink to compound; 

Rootlets I need, 'neath the tangled reed, 
To heal my heart's sharp wound: 

A wound that came from a maiden's love, 

Oh, 'twas no mortal quest! 
For her hair was a maze of the sunset's 
blaze 

When his glory dies in the west! 



36 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

And her step was light as a swallow's flight 
O'er the flowered cactus burs, 

And her brow was white as the chastened 
light 
When the snow-moon kist the flrs. 

Oh! she lived in a pine-tree forest deep 
In the w^oodland's tangled glade; 

And a cabin, green in its mossy sheen, 
Was the home of this mountain maid. 

And thither one day I made my way 

For love of this naiad lass; 
But never a trace caught I of her face. 

In the hut, or the peony pass. 

Deep in the glade I want, afraid 
Lest harm the maid had found. 

When I met a sight that turned me white, 
And held me silence-bound. 

For there she stood and a leopard crouched 

To fell her to the sward. 
When a silken veil, o'er head and tail. 

She cast o'er the crouching pard. 

And when she drew that veil away, 

'Twas spotted like the beast; 
And the pard around, with tail a-ground, 

Went whining from the feast. 



Maid o' the Silken Veils 37 

Then o'er the hmp pine needles, she 

Went to a fox's lair, 
So behind a tree I hid, to see 

What did the maiden there. 

Over the fox, as he came home. 

She cast another veil; 
Tho' tricks he tried, he could not hide, 

For she covered head and tail. 



And as she drew, the keen fox knew 
His tricks she from his cleft; 

And to his hole he sadly stole, 
On the veil his craft was left. 



Then 'neath the tang-led reedy-marsh, — 

A carmine snake that hid, — 
She cast a veil o'er the shining scale 

Of the circled pyramid. 

And all his venom in the veil 

She drew, like drops that bleed. 

And he wi'iggled away, like a stunned binite 
may, 
Into the pipy reed. 



38 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

Then I heard a mountain Hon cry, 

That bounded to her side; 
To his curdling wail, she cast a veil 

Over his tawny hide. 

And the lion slinks like one ashamed 
Of self, when weak and blind; 

But the maiden laug-ht as her nostrils quaft 
The drink of the piny wind. 

So, too, a dove upon a bush 
She covered "wath a veil. 
And his gentle coo she from him drew 
In a sheen a-pearled pale. 

But I turned my head and away I fled, 

Away from that mystic dell; 
For I was afraid of the veils o' the maid, 

And who could their meaning tell? 

For maybe some day when I wooed a dove, 

A snake or a leopard fang 
Might sting my breast, tho' silken drest 

Was the mouth that gave the pang. 



The Green Comb 39 

THE GREEN COMB 

When Pyrrhus levied War's hot stir 

About the Tarentines, and in 
The city saw there many were 

Of comely damsels, he did spin 
His Epirots' regard to win. 



For then he had a company 

Of bravest men, that lacked wives there, 
And so of g"olden trinkets, he, 

Of bracelets, eaiTings, all that be 
Full suitable in half to tear, 



Did take; and gave to Tarent maids 
The one half, to his men that swarm, 

The other; then the to'WTi invades. 
And gave he orders that the maids 

Should wed who held half of her chanii. 



Here was a maid, one Cleona, 

W^ho loved a Tarent youth full well; 
Half of the charm that came her way 

Was a green comb of amber; shell 
Too it had, golden, fretted gay. 



40 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

Now when she saw the Epirot 

That she would win, a huge, stern man, 
And old, she on his legs did note 

The battle-scars; and so did plan 
That she might soon outwit this man. 

And so she taunted him and said : 

"Behold you come like one that bears 

A foot in Styx ; whom I would wed, 
Is wiho in foot-race that he shares 

With me, must be the one that led." 

So said Cleona, for she knew 

She was the fleetest Tarent maid; 

For like to Hermes' feet she flew 
Nor was the Epirot afraid 

To match his fleetness with the maid. 

But first from Pyrrhus gained she 
His assent, that if she should win, 

She got that pale-green comb, and free 
To wed her favored one; or in 

A maidenhood fore'er to be. 

Thus was the race then run and lost 

Unto that Epirot, for lo! 
Cleona like a swallow crost 

The line, a furlong more or so. 
Ere her aged rival's form did show. 



Tale of the Great Hm-nhill 41 

Then did Cleona wed her youth; 

And many children, kind and sweet 
She had, who bore that comb as truth 

Unto their children, how she meet 
And outwit Pyrrhus by her feet. 

So in the generations sped, 

The women that would marry none 
They love not, since upon their head, 

To show that they have will to wed. 
Have worn the comb Cleona won. 



TALE OF THE GREAT HORNBILL 

A bird of rare plumage, jet-black and pure 

white. 
With gi'eat bill of yellow, red-spotted, iii 

height 
Full five feet, grotesque as the pterodactyl, 
Is the bird of my story, the giant Hombill. 

A pair of them lived in a garden, where 

shone 
The fairest of lotus-buds, Earth has e'er 

known ; 



42 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

Near a rajah's grand palace, and oft by 

the water 
By day and by night came the rajah's fine 

daughter. 

So dark yet so tender, the eyes of the maid 
Were, that the great Hornbills were never 

afraid. 
As if had a Lotus unfolded an Elf; 
But all lovers she fled, like own Modesty's 

self. 

But one suitor, bolder than any she met. 
To win that dark maiden, his heart's hope 

had set; 
But tho' in the palace, he oft was a guest. 
She fled him the same as she fled all the 

rest. 

So he tied to the leg of the Hombill a note 

One night, and within, how he loved her 
he wrote; 

And when with the Morning, the maiden 
did see. 

Her heart danceth light and she sang mer- 
rily. 



Tale of the Great Hornbill 43 

Then unto the Hornbill, she tied a love- 
letter 

That said: "Who would win me than you 
must be better; 

For I walk every night by the light of the 
moon, 

And a lover that loves me would catch me 
full soon. 



But she tied the note on to the Lady Horn- 
bill, 

And the Hornbills were then in a honey- 
moon's thrill. 

And the Lady went nesting in hollow tree 
by, 

And Hornbill did plaster her in snug and 
dry. 



And when came the Lover and no note he 
scans. 

He went to the war with the mountainous 
clans ; 

But he never forgot in the deepest of slaugh- 
ter 

The splendid dark eyes of the rajah's fine 
daughter. 



44 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

Now when he returned from the war, why 
the brood 

Of the Hornbills into the bright world did 
intrude, 

And there on the Lady bird was his love- 
letter ; 

He read — and he went to the palace to get 
her. 

But the rmaiden has fled to a Vale of a Star, 
And never was seen again, near or afar: 
And when comes the Spring oft they say 

with a wink, 
"The Hornbills have got a love-letter, I 

think." 



THE ORANGE GOBLET 
On one of the Ionian Isles, 

When Croesus the last Lydian 
Held sceptre o'er, amid the piles 

Of rock and shore, there dwelt a man, 

A diver and a Carian. 

And one day 'neath the ocean deep, 
In that strange floating solitude 

Where olden barges richly sleep. 
He found a golbet, orange-hued, 

Full fragile ,fine and steep. 



The Orange Goblet 45 

Now were his daughter and his mate 
Both captive to some pirates bold; 

And he that goblet would donate 
Unto the king, this Croesus old, 

To free them from such fate. 

Then as he journeyed hither, he 

Did combat with a deadly snake; 

And in its mouth he speedily 

Did thrust that goblet; then did break 

Its head with stone. Beautifully 

Ran the snake's skin, a pride on him : 
But on that orange goblet clear, 

Unnoticed at the fragle brim, 
A drop of venom doth appear; 
Carian, have fear! 

But w^ater could not cleanse the smart 
That lurkt within the goblet's side. 

Although he rinsed it well; the art 
Of poison oft doth long abide. 
Much in a drop may hide. 

Then when he found the palace door 
The Lord High Chamberlain did seek 

His end ; and then he told it o'er. 

And showed that goblet like a streak 

Of orange light. The high Lord bore 



46 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

A yearning that he might donate 

That goblet to his Hege and King; 

So when his prison-door doth grate 
Upon that Diver, he doth bring 
That goblet to his King. 

Then spread the King his banquet-board 
And when the sparkling wine was near, 

The rarest of his vintage stored. 
He poured into that goblet clear, 

And gave to that high Lord. 

So bade him drink; which doing, he 
Fell in a swoon; and all the court 

Fell in gi'eat fear that sight to see. 

And gathered round from hushed sport: 

It was the King's to be. 

Then sent the King to learn the tale 
About that goblet; and he found 

That Carian in prison pale. 

Who doth the story then expound. 
The King is wonder-bound. 

Thus did he set the Carian free, 

And freed his wife and daughter, too; 

While gave he gifts full lavishly; 
And home he sent that Diver, who 
A noble act would do. 



The Lady of the Humming Birds 47 

THE LADY OF THE HUMMING-BIRDS 

Upon the Macedonian hills 

Where dwelt a fierce and war-like clan, 
There lived a maid whose sparkling trills 

With melody the hills o'erran. 
Full dainty, black-eyed and with cheek 

That glowed a ruby on the tan. 
She had a cage of Humming-Birds 

She taught beyond the ken of man. 

For she could sing full wondrously 

Snatches of songs from other climes; 
And oft her Birds would mission she 

To other lands and other times. 
She loved a warrior, fierce and strong; 

But women all he held amiss; 
And thought it high disdain that one 

Should bend his spirit to a kiss. 

Then when upon a war-raid, he 

Did lead a band on plunder bent 
A Humming-Bird commissioned she 

To follow him where'r he went; 
And in his sleep to sing a tale 

Of love unto his war-like heart. 
E'en like her own voice: and not fail 

To sometime leave an Eros' dart. 



48 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

So was a Humming-Bird of green, 

All ruby-crested with them e'er, 
Of glorious and immortal sheen, 

A drop of darting color there. 
But one time when he fought against 

Some Greeks of far superior skill. 
With sword they parried well and fenced, 

And left him bleeding on a hill. 



Then as he swooned, that Humming-Bird 

Came nigh and sung into his ear; 
And then he grieved he had not heard 

The prayer of that maiden dear. 
Oh, how he longed again to be 

Upon the hills of Macedon, 
With that dark maiden's melody 

A-pouring in his ears alone! 



Then went the Humming-Bird to her, 

And told her of her lover's plight; 
And over all the peaks that were. 

She came to nurse him with delight. 
And he was pleased her care to get. 

In her sweet tenderness content; 
And down the vale where first they met, 

When he was well, they wedded went. 



The Tourmaline Vase 49 

THE TOURMALINE VASE 

In Persian Susa, long ago, 

When Earth and Sea were ruled by spears. 
There dwelt a Potter, who altho' 

Poor, had a daughter who appears 
Was Beauty's regal show. 



And when in dainty pantaloons 

The Maid on Susa's streets would wend, 
The thousands gazed behind. Eftsoons 

The giddy courtiers would bend 
Like bees round flowered moons. 



Her father had a wondrous vase, 

Cai"ved from a toui-maline's fine stone, 

A gift a friend whose steps did trace 
The distant waves; it would alone 

His daughter's wedding grace. 



It seems a Noble of the realm 
Did love this Maiden furiously; 

But Love did not her overwhelm, 
In truth the Noble hated she: 

Maids sometimes hold the helm. 



50 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

Then when the Noble saw that she 
Did hold his love in fine disdain, 

He made her father prisoned be, 

In hope that he revenge might gain ; 

That vase, too, claimed he. 

Then wept the Maid hot burning tears, 
And saw no more of joy or mirth; 

And sorrowed so, that too, appears 
Her spirit fled away from Earth, 

One night of the kind years. 

She sought that vase of tourmaline 
And filled it so with lustre quite, 

That it in Noble's palace seen 

Filled the beholders with delight; 

So wondrous was its sheen! 

But came one day the King to dine 
Within that Noble's palace hall; 

And when he saw the vase so shine. 
For lo! its lustre covered all! 

He said: "It should be mine." 

And so that vase of tourmaline 

Unto the kingly palace went: 
Where over all, its sparkling sheen. 

With wine and mirth and laughter blent, 
Beside the King and Queen. 



The Tourmaline Vase 51 

One night then when the King alone 
Was walking in his palace hall, 

He heard a sad and mourning tone 

Come from the vase and round him fall, 

Like pearls from Sorrow thrown. 

So when he saw whence came that cry, 
He from the vase the cause would win; 

And then the Maiden did reply, 

And told that deed of ruth and sin : 

The King did roll his eye. 

The same night doth the King then trace 

That Noble to a prison-door; 
While he in Freedom's garb did place 

That ancient Potter, bent and hoar; 
And gave him, too, that vase. 

And often on a summer's night, 

When Potter brooded o'er and o'er. 

That vase did fill him with delight. 
And comforted until the Door 

Did open unto Light. 



52 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

THE JAGUARINE 

Within a forest, dwelt a maid 

Fleet as the mountain doe, 
Fair as the Lily of the Vale, 

Who was she, none did know. 
Oft when the forest-wanderer 

That heard her wild sweet song, 
Came on her beauty suddenly, 

He did not tarry long. 

For following, a jaguar 

Was ever with her seen; 
And so the simple peasant folk 

Called her the Jaguarine. 
There, one Robalt, a woodman's son, 

Had often sought this dell. 
All unbeknown that furiously 

She loved him long and well. 

For often as a boj'' he saw 

Her fleeting scarlet sash 
The golden tassels of her cap, 

Her darkly-fringed lash. 
There, too, he saw her pretty cave. 

Where cataract did roar. 
Where Painted-cups did flaunt and sway, 

Before its birch-bark door. 



The Jaguarine 53 

Thither came he with a maid, 

A winsome, nut-brown lass, 
But what they did, or where they went. 

Or how it came to pass, 
Is in dispute, but Legend says 

That as he hug-ged the maid. 
Upon them came the Jaguarine, 

In jealousy, deep-swayed; 

And fed them Nightshade berries, and 

There came a change upon; 
For now three jaguai's she has, 

Where formerly was one. 
And often on a summer's eve 

When Twilight sheds her screen. 
Mid wail of jaguars is blent 

The laughing Jaguarine. 



THE GOLDEN PURSE 

Now, this is the tale of a purse that was 

golden. 
All made of shagreen and loose-bound in 

its fold 
By gay colored silk and a clasp that was 

olden. 



54 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

Which held in its pocket two pieces of 
gold ; 
Two bright shiny pieces just fresh from 
their mintage, 
Two sly roguish pieces, for ever when one 
Was taken, it doubled without e'en a hintage 
The purse held the less since its strange 
life begun. 

Now the purse did belong to a minstrel of 
Venice, 
A troubadour singing his songs o'er the 
land: 
Sweet snatches of woods and the far sea- 
shore when is 
The fragrance of spices blow'n over the 
sand ; 
A light, careless fellow with jest ever merry 
Who sang at the inns or would sing at 
a feast, 
With an eye for a maid, an attractiveness 
very, 
Who payed as he went, and cared not the 
least. 

So singing one day at a wealthy betrothal, 
To make a gay party more gay by his 
glee. 



The Golden Purse 



Where gowns were the richest, of gold- 
braided cloth, all 
And many an eye sparkled brighter to 
see. 
He sang with a fervor, a reckless abandon 

As if he were even the richest on earth; 
With a mandolin singing, a purse with his 
hand on, 
And a burden of nothing, of nothing but 
mirth. 

There in the hall modest was one who had 
listened 
Who loved him at sight, did this maiden 
I trow. 
With his spangles that glittered, his bright 
eye that glistened. 
And rich voice and manner that pleased 
them all so; 
But well did she know that her father a 
miser 
Had planned her a dissolute man of great 
wealth. 
And well did she know what he e'er did de- 
vise her. 
Opposing, was wasting her beauty and 
health. 



56 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

Oh, Love is a pow'r that within the heart's 
portals 
Once entered and oh, the sweet unrest it 
brings. 
And so with this maid, 'tis a faihng of mor- 
tals; 
Thus the minstrel's voice played on the 
maiden's heart-strings. 
So she sent forth her maid for the minstrel 
to meet her 
When bright was the starlight, and lo 
when he came, 
He thought that he never beheld any 
sweeter ; 
And so they were lovers with yearnings 
the same. 

But a servant revealed to his miserly master 
The troubador's coming, what partings 
they gave, 
(0 servants, the cause of a many disaster! 
What is there at sei*ving that maketh 
you slave?) 
And told of the magical purse that he car- 
ried; 
The miser's eyes glistened with malice 
and greed. 



The Golden Purse 57 

And then did they plan that the next night 
he tarried, 
To lock the maid in, and rob him, indeed. 

And so when the minstrel came forth for 
his meeting. 
They murdered him there on the path in 
the dark: 
The blow of a bludgeon he got for a greet- 
ing, 
And there he is lying still, hidden and 
stark. 
But when saw the miser the bright yellow 
pieces, 
He took out the two, and beheld with a 
curse. 
That he who had hoped to be richer than 
Croesus, 
Found nothing but ashes was left in the 
purse. 

And the maiden was not to be comforted 

ever, 
The maiden that waited the minstrel to 

come. 
The minstrel that sweetly will sing again 

never, 



58 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

The lips that were hquid will ever be 
dumb. 
Some stories have told how the maid over- 
hearing 

The servant and father their guilt trying 
to hide, 
Had spread a birth-banquet to them all un- 
fearing, 

And poisoned the wine and so with them 
died. 



But the minstrel is gone with his mandolin 
hanging, 
His sweet songs of mirth and his sonnets 
of love. 
His grim tales of war with the fierce sabers 
clanging, 
His madrigals sung to the bright eyes 
above ; 
The minstrel is gone and his mandolin 
broken, 
His heart that was fervid is lifeless and 
cold. 
And this shall ye know of him, this be his 
token. 
His purse holdeth ashes where once it 
held gold. 



The Dwarf and the Canary 59 

JHE DWARF AND THE CANARY 

By a pool within a wood 
Near a floating lily stood 

A Dwarf: new 
Was the cloak whose poppied tint 
Did weaved mysteries imprint 

As it flew. 

Tho' on face, Age flung her curtain 
With its wrinkles, still a certain 

Beauty clung, 
Like the irridescent sheen 
From the beetle's coat of green 

When 'tis young. 

For with woodcraft knew he then 
Every herb of wood or glen, 

And each flower 
Was a globed realm that beat 
With an insect world complete — 

A star-tower. 

Now beneath the flags deep-blue 
Lived a Nymph, whose beauties do 

So enthrall. 
That the birds all came to sing 
Every morning to her spring. 
For they loved her lingering 

Lisping call 



60 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

Like the limpid call of brooks 
In the wildest strangest nooks, 

Sweetly drawn; 
Or the tinkling of a bell 
In the faintest, deepest dell 
Of a forest, that doth tell 

Her pet faun. 

Oft above that pool so deep 
He had seen her lovely peep. 

Then was gone: 
For she deemed because his face 
Was so wrinkled that all gi'ace 

Was withdrawn. 

Thus while mused this dwarfish fellow, 
A canary bright and yellow 

On the pool 
Fell; and up a blue fish darted 
Seized the bird and downward started 

To depths cool. 

Then the Dwarf, who loved birds, leaping, 
(For he heard her young ones weeping) 

Dove down deep 
And had reached the swooning frame 
Of the bird when o'er him came 

A deep sleep. 



The Dwarf and the Canary 61 

When he waked, 'twas under wave 
In a marble columned Cave, 

He guessed whose; 
Tho' the Nymph was seen nowhere, 
Flowers frail and rich and rare 

Were profuse. 

And he heard the sweet Canary — 
Singing like a winged faery 

From a tree; 
Tho' her song was far away 
Still her piping seemed to say: 

"Follow me." 

Following a garden's air. 
Came he on that one so fair 

The oft-fleeted. 
Where the Cave and waters meet. 
And her voice was rich and sweet 

As she greeted. 

Then he spoke of loveliness, 
Of the spirit that doth dress 

All life here. 
Of the glory of the Earth, 
Of his one and utter deai'th, 
Of his hope of a new birth 

In some sphere: 



62 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

Till the Nymph could not conceal 
All the wonder she did feel 

At his mind, 
For the intellect so rare 
Of a god was shining there, 
Till she wondered how she e'er 

Had been blind. 

Then she loved him and above 
Thro' the waters these three dove. 

And they went 
To the Dwarf's hut, where two wed, 
And in happiness Time sped. 
For the wild canaries shed 

Blandishment. 



THE RED OPAL 

On a mount in Guadelara, 

Remnant of an ancient race, 

Lived a little Aztec maiden 

Lithe of form and fair of face; 

She who hunted down the congar 
With a quiver and a bow; 

Or who chased the mountain big horn 
Till he lay in panting woe. 



The Red Opal 63 

One day in a cave she entered, 

Came she on an oaken door, 
With an opal neck-chami on it 

And this Aztec motto o'er: 

"Take who will this single Opal, 
Take and wear it" (so it saith) 

"And who loves thee ne'er will alter, 
But will love thee e'en in death." 

So upon her nut-brown bosom 
Hung the pendant Opal red; — 

For the Aztec maiden feared not 
Portant living, portent dead. 

But the fiery Aztec maiden 

Red of cheek and jetty eyed. 
Was as curious as Pandora, 

To find what the cave doth hide. 

So she broke the massive door-lock; 

And the hinges gavei a groan, 
As the maiden trod a portal 

That was of an age unknown. 

Lo! it was a treasure-laden 

House of unremembered date. 

And the maiden's eyes were dazzled 
By the gold and silver plate, — 



64 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

By the great, grotesqueful idols, — 
Cumbersome and costly dials, — 

By the rich-wrought carven columns, — 
By the tasteful, fragile vials. 

Urns and pitchers tall and massy, — 

Cups and goblets filligred, — 
Implements of shapely culture 

Such as time has ceased to need. 

Everything of gold and silver; 

Even swords and shields and spears; 
And the maiden stood amazed 

As the gleaming wealth appears. 

But she kept her hut of birches 
Tho' her secret slumbered deep; 

And she kept the Opal neck-charm, 
Which would from her bosom peep. 

Till one day a Spanish horseman 
Gaily dressed did pass that way; 

And his youthful eye burned blacker 
As it on the Opal lay ; 

Which he knew must be a treasure 

Fit, indeed, for one in Spain: 
So he wooed the Aztec maiden. 

Falsely wooed her to her pain. 



The Red Opal 65 

Wooed her till she loved him truly; 

Till she told her secrets all; 
Till of Montezuma's treasure 

One day from her lips did fall. 

Then the Spaniard begged to lead him, 

By the wedding he foretold, 
To the cave of antique wonders, 

To the carnival of gold. 

"Nay, not so," the maiden answered, 
"Till the altar us doth bind"; 

But he saw a seiiorita 

That in Spain he left behind. 

And the Aztec maiden's firmness 
Rankled in his Spanish blood: 

With a mighty oath he struck her, 
And she fell beside the wood. 

Then with gi'asping hand the Opal 
From her lovely neck he tore; 

From the lifeless Aztec maiden 
Lying by her birch-bark door. 

But the Opal had a poison ; 

And, as swift as serpent's dart. 
When he tore, its needle entered 

In his vein and sought his heart. 



66 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

So he reeled, and lay beside her; 

Clasping still in death her head; — 
Aztec maid and Spanish lover, — 

Where the Opal burneth red. 

THE GOOSE AND THE WATER SNAKE 

Down in the rushes so slender and blue 
Where gnats dance o'er eddies narrow, 

Croucht agile-limbed Domic, the goose- 
hunter, who 
Waited with bow and with arrow. 

Then came swooping down that gi'eat flock 
from the North; 

The first was a splendid white speeder: 
So Domic shot, and the winged dart forth 

Stuck in the wing of the leader. 

Then again rose that great flock for flight, 
Save two that flew where he was lying, 

To help the white Goose in his plight: 
An arrow soon sent them a-flying. 

Now Domic leapt out to o'ertake. 

But the Goose to a briared cove warded. 

When a beautiful green and gold Snake 
Came out of the water and guarded. 



The Gold Bell 67 

And so every day for a week 

When Domic that Goose had beholden, 
Why so every day for a week 

Came out that green Snake and golden. 

And one day away to the South 

He saw the great white Goose a-speeding, 
His silver tips bright as he ploweth 

To the gi'eat flock he soon would be lead- 
ing. 

And thus is the reason soon seen 

When the flock sof geese visit the brakes, 
There's always a friendship between 

The geese and the gi'een water-snakes. 

THE GOLD BELL 

In that time when did reign 

Darius, called the Great, 
And unto his domain 

Was linkt, too, many a state. 
And there were golden tributes ta'en 

In ingots of much weight. 
There was a golden bell 

That was made to gayly ring. 
When wed was (so they tell) 

The daughter of the king; 
A splendid, golden bell 

That melodious could sing. 



68 The BLUE DRAGON Ballads 

It a little tower did hold, 

Afore the temple door, 
Where the gold-veiled and soled 

Would pass with it hung o'er; 
And like confetti wrapped in gold 

Would its notes down on them pour. 

Such was the bell's intent — 

This gift of some ameer 
Where gold full plenteous went, 

Cameled where gold was dear. 
It was a charming present sent 

Unto the king's daughter. 

But alack! alack! alack! 

For that bell in the tower's fold! — 
For that gold bell had a crack 

Which no one did behold; 
And it answered one golden echo back, 

And powdered their heads with gold. 



LRB" 



LAST WORD 

Children, adieu! 

Your minds so sweet 
I joy I knew, 

Time's blessings meet 
You friendly, all, 

My blessings, too; 
One last fond call. 

Children, adieu! 



